Twizel Castle

Twizel Castle was originally a 15th century stone tower. Rectangular in plan, with circular towers on the angles and two wings on the north side, the basement rooms in the main block, are stone or brick-vaulted as a precaution against fire. After being built for over 50 years, the house was never finished and it is now a two storey folly. Of the medieval fortalice, blocked windows, a chamfered doorway and the original north-east angle quoins are visible.

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The first child to be born of william and agnes briggs was called Rachael in 1827,she married james jeffrey and lived on the twisell estate.they had a daughter called martha briggs . The other chidren were Jane, Eleanor, mary, agnes, william, thomas,Matthew, Margaret, and agnes, the grandaughter.

the briggs ancestors. ralph and isobel,down to thomas and ........ ,then to william and agnes 1804/5.through to thomas 1839 to 1909 then to james henry briggs to son james henry junior. SON JAMES. 1952.

the folly built by the stonemasons and later demolished was lived in not by the baronet blake,who lived with his family in tillmouth house not far away,but by the briggs family untill they had to move to norham village.

the1828 directory, volume 2 by parson and white,page 342,newcastle central library shows thomas briggs,stonemason next to sir francis blake baronet living in the twisell area,norham parish, thomas briggs was born in 1771.he must have worked on the building of the castle for the baronet.

the son of wiiliam briggs b.1802 was called thomas who moved from the castle to the scotswood area of newcastle,denton road, number 25 ridley terrace not far from the river tyne. he married ann and they had family.

the wooded slope underneath the castle was known as ST. HELENS BANK all along the river till to the bridge. On an old map of 1860 /65 there are three wells here, St. helens well,near the nursrey for plants,THE CAT WELL to the east of the castle,and the bridge end well near the entrance from the main road.

In the photograph c, 1910 ,twisel castle and bridge,the rock outcrop seen through the arc of the bridge at twisell near the river till is where the spring water from the CAT WELL drips down to the ground.

the mansion of twisel castle had carriage tracks leading up to the main door at the north side of the castle and from the east turret on the north end. these carriage ways led across the field to the twizel smithy on the main road to berwick on tweed and down to the entrance near the old twisel bridge .

NEW INFORMATION, In the 1861 census, only the brggs family lived in the gothic mansion on the twisel estate. agnes briggs the head of the house, a widow. william briggs the master mason had died in 1859. his son thomas ,,a mason was in the castle.

has anyone else visited twisel castle recently, is the paper sheet still hanging above the fireplace in the main room. have you recorded details of your visit from far away? . I came up to the castle from newcastle,, other people came from much further away,

to see the castle try getting the bus from berwick on tweed to norham village and going down to the riverside to walk south along the bank of the tweed to the castle about 3 miles. this is a public footpath all the way ,flat in places with climbs up through the trees which line the riverbank.

we have a link to the briggs family who lived in the twisel area/the castle before it was demolished in about 1880. there is a thomas briggs awaterman living in bells close,scotswood who gives his birth place as northumberland..parish of tysel......twisel and is included in the public member family tree bell...gladwood 55 on the free ancestry website. ....mary robson had two spouses,willam briggs and thomas of tysel,both watermen.